Freight carrier



Dec. 5, 1939.. c. c. sTETsoN ,2,182,005

FREIGHT CARRI ER Filed June 20, 1938 /7- Faq-6 Char/es C 5f 750/7 Y: ,v mag, 0 yFlig. 7 my.

Patented Dec. s, 1939 l f l 2,182,005

UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE FREIGHT CARRIER Charles C. Stetson, St. Paul, Minn.

Application `lune 20, 1938, Serial No. 214,855

Claims. (Cl. 214-65) My invention relates to an improvement in a vide a construction Which will enable the goods demountable freight carrier, wherein it is deto be quickly and elciently handled. The sides sired to provide a carrier device suitable for of my container are reinforced and the top brace transporting goods of moderate size so that a and handle of the vsame acts to reinforce the considerable amount of such goods may be moved top and sides. The hase. is provided With sliders'I 5 simultaneously Without the necessity of handling which provide alarger' area of bearing of the leach piece several times. carrierupon 'the floor at all times Whether or The present' invention comes Within a class not the carrier .is being tilted. Thus my carrier of freight moving equipment, wherein a carrier is prevented from injuring floor surfaces upon l0 is provided to move package cargo in approxi- Which it is rested and'can'easily be slid out of `10 mately vertical piles so that said cargo may be f the aisle or movedv al'little.

carried from place to place upon a two-wheel It is ari-important feature 'of 'my invention to Warehouse truck ofany ordinary construction. provide acarrier, ythebase of which is spaced These carriers are so designed that they may be from the iloor byfsuitable angle iron or channel '15 lifted yand tilted onto the truck from the back means, and to so taper the rear portion of suchl while the cargo of merchandise is maintained in supporting means that the fulcrum is brought approximately vertical position, as it has been forward soy that'm-y carrier will tilt with little before tilted. Containers designed to accom-v effort' in placing the same upon a two-Wheeled plish my result have previously been made, but truck. Thus a heavy load of goods may be easily these former types of containers were conmounted 'upona truck and moved by one man 20 structed with inclined backs in order to make with a minimum of effort. Ait possible for one man to tilt the container onto These a'ndother objects and novel features of the truck. While such carriers have been a de-` my invention will be' more clearly and fully set cided improvement over the former method ofl forth vin the following specification and claims.

handling packages of goods separately, they are '-In the drawing'fforminga part of my speci- 25 impractical for light' goods, such as frail furnication:

ture and household effects, and are liable to re- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my carrier in sult in crushing the rear edges of cartons of readiness for use. goods piled therein, or to slip off from the jar Figurel 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of moving.. centrally through my carrier. 30

` It is an object of the present invention to pro- Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken o vide a carrier having an open front and t'op the horizontal plane indicated by the line 3 3 with closed sides, back, and base, Which may be of Figure 2. 1

easily transported upon a two-Wheeled truck and Figure 4 is a bottom perspective View of the which is of suicient size to contain packages of handle means used on'my carrier.

the ordinary household goods, such as dining Figure 5 is'a cross-sectional view through the room chairs, barrels of dishes and cartons and supporting standard,"the section being taken on bundles or books and other material. By groupthe line 5-5 oi Figure 2. ing these goods in the containers, a large amount Figure 6 is a sectional view through the corner lof goods may be handled at one time by one between the rear Wall of my carrier and the bot- 40 man, and after being placed in the containers, tom of the same, slightly enlarged to illustrate the goods need not be handled again until the the construction thereof.

same have reached their destination. By this Figure 7 is a bottom perspective detail of a method, there is also less chance of damage to front cornerof my carrier. y frail pieces from jar in picking up and setting My carrier A is built upon a strong frame of 45 down the pieces numerous times. Furthermore, two main ribs of angle iron or other shaped rods, the goods may be moved much more quickly bent at floor level tovan L-shape, and comprises onto and oi an elevator and may be held toin general, a base I0, a pair of oppositely disgether With less chance of confusion or mioposed side Walls Il, and a rear Wall l2. The

A placement'in shipping or -in movement of the side Walls ll are connected at the edges to the 50 goods through a Warehouse or the like. back i2 and both the side Walls il and the It is a feature of my invention to provide a back l2 are secured to the base i0 toprovicle a carrier Which is properly constructed to Withcarrier having an open'front and top.

stand the strain of goods of various shapes and The base l0 comprises a heavier ply-wood 1,55 sizes which may be placed therein and to promember I3 or similar member, having a cover- 55 ing sheet I 4 of metal of suiicient thickness to prevent injury to the board base I3. On either side of the base I along two opposite edges of the container A, I provide angle-iron ribs I5. To these ribs are secured by means of bolts I6 or other suitable means the board base I3 and the metallic covering sheet I4 as well as the sides and back and rest of the structure.

Rearwardly from the center of the container and positioned approximately two-thirds to three-fourths of the depth of the container from the front thereof, I incline or cut away the downward web of the angle iron ribs I5, as illustrated in Figures l, 2, and v6 of the drawing. This incline I1 slants from the rear toward the fulcrum and permits the container A to be easily tilted rearwardly onto a two-wheeled truck when placed beneath the base I0 and pulled from the back. A notch I9 is preferably provided between the incline I1 and the fulcrum of the ribs I to permit the carrier to be tilted to the rear despite any small projection, such as a stone or nail head at this point which might otherwise reduce the advantage of the full incline.

front end of the ribs I5, I provide sliders 20 which may be formed as illustrated in Figures 2, 5, and 7 of the drawing. These sliders are formed of angle iron similar tothe ribs I5 and are securely welded to the ribs I5 to form a rectangular box providing a larger area for the container to rest upon. As illustrated in Figures 2 and 6 of the drawing, I provide a reinforcing strip 2l which underlies the horizontal webof the angle iron ribs I5 and also extends upon the corresponding web of the angle iron vertical ribs, all strongly weldedand reinforcing the back in a manner which will be later described. Attached to the reinforcing strip 2| I provide slider strips 22 which are secured to underlie the reinforcing strips 2l and to be formed in loop shape so that the end thereof -may be welded to the vertical extending portion of the reinforcing strip 2l, as welly as to the vertical angle iron ribs of the back in a manner which will be later described.

At the front of the carrier A, I provide a T- iron member 23, having a web 24 which extends beneath the boards I3 forming a part ofthe base Iii. This T-iron forms a counterbalance to offset the weight of the carrier back and to hold the carrier in upright position when empty. The construction of this T-iron 23 may best be noted in Figure 7 of the drawing and the manner in which the flange 24 is cut away at each end to permit the angle iron ribs and the front. sliders 2l! attached thereto to extend to the front of the carrier. As illustrated, the T-member 23 is welded to the slider 20 at 25 and to the angle iron rib I5 at 26, as Well as at the extreme corner where the vertical web 21 of the T-member 23 adjoins the vertical web of the angle iron rib I5. The back wall I2 of my carrier is provided with a strong metallic lining sheet 29 which is welded at 33 to the covering sheet I4 of the base Ill and which preferably extends down to provide a covering ange 3| to inclose a cross member 32 which may be a board or the like. y

At the top of the back I2, the metallic sheet 29 extends along a top reinforcing cross member 34 which also may be a board, and is secured iereto. Intermediate the cross members 32 and 34 in spaced relationship, I may provide `to the back sheet 29.

Adjacent the incline I1 and near the extreme other cross stiffening members 35 securely bolted by bolts 36 or otherwise aixed to the ribs 31.y

Extending vertically from the base I0 to the top of the carrier, I provide angle iron ribs 31 which are welded or bolted directly to the sheet 29. These angle irons 31 have a'rearwardly extending web 39 and a connecting web which underlies a portion of the sheet 29. Between the edges of these overlying webs of the angle irons 31 and between thek spaced cross'members 35 and the top andy bottom members 32 and 34, respectively, I provide corrugated reinforcing 40 which is preferably of sheet metal spot-welded in place This corrugated reinforcing prevents distortion of the back.

The reinforcing strip rZI overlies the web of the angle irons 31 which inturn overlies the sheet 29 and is welded directly to this overlying web. The web 39 of the angle iron members 31 are rounded at the lower corners to conform with the arcuation of the reinforcing strip 22,form ing a slider at the rear of the carrier.

The sides II are preferably formed of sheet metal or the like, and are welded along the bottom edge to the cover sheet I4 of the base ID kand to the angle iron base ribs I5. vAlong the rear edge of the sides II, these sheets are welded or otherwise amxed to the sheet 29 and to the angle iron rib members 31. 'Ihe front and top edges of the sides II are reinforced by light angle iron members 4I which extend from the i front of the container at the bottom thereof, upwardly alongthe front edge of the sides II and then extend rearwardly along the top edge of the sides I I to the rear edge of these sides. angle iron members 4I may have openings 42 to laccommodate cross ties, not illustrated in the drawing, but which may extend transversely between the angle lirons 4I to prevent the goods within the ycarrier from falling out the openl iront of the same in case there is a tendencyfor the goods to do so.

Across the back at the top of the carrier I'provide a combination brace and handle piece. 3

which is preferably shaped as showninFigure 4 of the drawing. This piece 43 is provided with pair of side extensions 44 which overlie .and

are firmly welded to the rear Aportion of each angle iron binderpiece 4I, stronglyreinforcing the sides against spreading. This toppece i3 The back to mount upon the two-wheeledtruck; I

*also provide an ample opening 41 `through' the top at the edge of this piece` i3 enabling the operator to grasp it from above or to engage a' hook tie piece connecting this carrier with other.,

carriers in tandem'during shippingr operations. The flange i6 extending from side to `side of the carrier enables the opera-tor to exert his main pull where most needed in case the carrier has been unevenly loaded.

In operation several of these containers may be loaded at the receiving platform on an incoming lot with boxes and smallpackages; r-When lled, the containers are easilypulled back upon a truck and rolled upon the elevator .andre-,f moved at the desired floor landingj When the operators are ready to stow or pile the lot,..these loaded carriers are easily remounted upon a twowheeled truck and wheeled to the pointdesired and there ...unloaded '.The empty carriersimay., 75

then be nested together, due to the outward nare in the construction thereof, and moved to a convenient place until again required. If the goods are to be removed before long, the goods may remain in the carriers. An entire lot of small packages may thus be contained in a single carrier, avoiding much of the danger of mislaying a part of the lot of goods, and eliminating handling each separate package or article in the lot of goods a number of times. In the usual experience of a storage warehouse these carriers can handle more than half the separate packages of an average storage lot and save about two man hours of labor on an incoming lot and an equal time when it goes out.

This carrier device is of such size and shape that it can on occasion be handled and carried with a load by two men without a truck, since the front toe piece and the back pull and brace furnish excellent holds for the hands.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my demountable freight carriers, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that this is only illustrative of a means of carrying out my invention and that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A freight carrier comprising a base, a back extending substantially vertically from said base, supporting members on opposite sides of said base to support said carrier with said back substantially vertical, spacing said base from the floor, said supporting members being upwardly and rearwardly tapered from a point near the center of the sides to the rear end thereof to support said carrier at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical to permit said carrier to be easily tilted.

2. A freight carrier comprising a base, a back extending substantially vertically from said base, side walls connected tofsaid base and said back, oppositely disposed supporting members for said base extending beneath the same, said supporting members being tapered upwardly and rearwardly from a point near the center of the sides to an end thereof to permit said carrier to be readily tilted to a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical.

3. A carrier comprising a base, a back member secured thereto, a pair of oppositely disposed supporting members extending beneath said base, and upwardly and rearwardly inclined surfaces on said supporting members extending from a point near the center thereof to the rear end of the same at a predetermined angle with the hori- Zontal to permit said carrier to be readily tilted to a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical.

4. A carrier comprising a base, a back secured thereto, oppositely disposed ribs engageable with the ground and supporting said base, and spaced sliders on said ribs providing portions of increased area for bearing upon the ground longitudinally spaced along said ribs.

5. A carrier comprising a base, a back secured thereto, oppositely disposed ribs engageable with the ground for supporting said base, sliders on said ribs providing portions of increased area on said runners, and a rounded slider secured to each rib at one end thereof to engage the ground to provide a bearing of substantial area when Said carrier is tilted.

6. A carrier handle to be secured to a carrier back and including a flange attached to the inner surface of said back, an intermediate portion extending over the top edge of said back, and a downwardly extending flange on said intermediate portion for engagement by the fingers.

7. A carrier handle to be secured to a carrier, said handle including an intermediate portion, a downwardly extending flange thereupon attached to said back, a substantially parallel downwardly extending fiange on said intermediate portion for engagement with the lingers, said intermediate portion of said handle having an opening therethrough adjacent said last-mentioned downwardly extending ange so that said flange may beA readily engaged by the hand.

8. A carrier comprising a base, oppositely disposed ribs for said base, upwardly and rearwardly tapered ends on said ribs extending from a point near the center of the ribs to the rear ends thereof, a back secured to said base along the rear edge thereof, and a counter-balance means secured adjacent the front edge of said base.

9. A carrier comprising a base, a back secured thereto, oppositely disposed ribs supporting said base having a lower ground contacting surface thereupon, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined surface at one end of said ribs extending from a point near the center of the ribs to the rear ends thereof, said ribs having a notch therein between said inclined surface and said ground engaging surface.

10. A package carrier comprising a base, a vertical back secured thereto, and supporting ribs under said base, said ribs providing a bearing to rest on the floor extending from a point adjacent the front of said base to a point spaced from the back thereof tohold said back extending vertically, and means cooperating with said ribs to support said back at a predetermined angle with the vertical to permit said carrier to be easily tilted rearwardly.

CHARLES C. STETSON. 

